Michael Andretti ready for his last drive at Indianapolis

He has been inundated by the media and besieged by fans every time he leaves his relative sanctuary amid the tool boxes, car parts and engines.

1969 Indy 500 champion Mario Andretti, left, and his son Michael, watch practice in this May 10 photo. Michael has announced that he will retire following Sunday's Indianapolis 500.

--ASSOCIATED PRESS

It would be ideal for Andretti if everybody would just leave him alone and let him get ready for Sunday's Indianapolis 500.

But he has known what to expect since March, when he announced that Indy would be the final race as a driver.

"That's the worst part of the whole deal," Andretti said. "The whole month, and particularly the last few days, I've been pulled every which direction.

"But, you know, I'm able to handle it OK because I know what I want to do and I'm doing it. Actually, it's been the most fun I've had in May."

Michael will step out of the cockpit to focus on the new passion in his life: Andretti Green Racing, the team he and two partners bought late last year from Barry Green. Rookie Dan Wheldon will take his seat, joining veterans Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan as the team's drivers.

Most racers hate the thought of retirement. The son of Mario Andretti welcomes it.

At 40, he owns more wins (42) than any active American open-wheel racer and remains a competitive driver. Only his father and A.J. Foyt had more.

He has no second thoughts about giving up driving.

"None. I'm doing it the way I always wanted to do it," Andretti said.

"I always wanted to retire where I was still very competitive. I didn't want to fade away. I didn't want to have to be pulled out of the car. That's not my way."

And Andretti is quick to point out that he looks at this as a very positive change.

"Because of what I've been able to structure for myself beyond my driving years, to have something that I can still put a lot of focus in and still get a lot of adrenaline and still stay involved with the sport I love, it's just a fantastic thing," he said. "I really feel like I'm the luckiest guy in the world."

Mario Andretti doesn't share his son's love of the racing business. He does, however, understands why Michael is ending his driving career 14 years earlier than he did.

Owning a team "was one of his absolute goals," the father said while watching his son go through another of the endless interviews in the week leading up to the race.

"He's the type of guy who is very decisive," Mario said. "He's feeling very good about it, 100 percent sure and content.

Mario, who readily admits he has missed driving a race car every day since his grudging retirement in 1994 at age 54, said he had seen his son's passion for racing wane recently.

"I really don't think he enjoyed his driving the last couple of years," Mario said. "And the business aspects of the sport have always been his biggest interest.

"I have always hated that stuff. We would go into a business meeting and all I wanted to do was get it over with. Michael would sit there and ask questions and just love being there."

Mario loved competing with and against his eldest son, and the two were teammates at Newman/Haas Racing for four of the last six years of Mario's career, something they cherish.

"I think that his driving probably extended my career," Mario said, breaking into a wide grin. Look at how many times we were on the podium together. ... We finished first and second eight times. That was awesome."

Those years were just as important to Michael, who knows how much driving meant to his father.

"After he retired, I think he was still driving vicariously through me," Michael said. "I think that was really positive for dad and I'm happy I could do that for him. He hates it outside the race car. He's like a fish out of water, and I feel sorry for him."

Michael is certain that won't happen to him.

"I'm looking for a new challenge," he said. "I'm looking forward to Sunday. I'm going to have fun with it and look forward to celebrating Sunday night, look forward to my new career."

Michael began racing go-karts when he was 9 and hasn't stopped racing since.

"What's going to change is my mind and the way I have to focus and the way I am. I'm going to be a lot more fun," he said, laughing. "Leading up to race weekend, I'm terrible to be around because I have to be so focused. I'm not going to have that sort of pressure any more, and I'm really looking forward to not having to deal with that."

He is one of the favorites Sunday. A win at the track where his family has had so much frustration would give him tremendous pleasure.

He has come close to winning Indy before only to have it snatched away. The closest was 1992 when he led 160 laps before a fuel pressure problem put him out after 189 of 200 laps.

The near misses for Michael, whose 398 laps led are the most by any non-winner at Indy, have added to the "Andretti Luck" or "Indy jinx" that began with his father.

Mario won the race in 1969, his fifth try. He spent the next 24 years trying to do it again, coming tantalizingly close only to have blown engines, broken parts or crashes end each bid.

The Andrettis still insist they love the speedway.

"My first year here (1984) was almost perfect," Michael said. "The car was great and I was Rookie of the Year. In 1991, we had four Andrettis in the race and we were all so proud of that. Those were highlights.

"This place doesn't owe me anything," he said. "I've raced hard and had my chances to win and it just didn't happen. That's just racing."

Mario hold no grudges against Indy, either.

"I think that stuff about a jinx ... I do not buy that. I've gotten more satisfaction out of this place than I probably deserve," he said.

That includes escaping injury in a spectacular crash while testing one of Michael's cars at the speedway in April.

"Look at the times I've had things under my control over the years," the 63-year-old Andretti added. "I've led so many laps here. In 1987, I controlled the race. I was fast every day all month."

He led 170 of 180 laps before a broken valve spring ended his day.

"In some ways, that month was very satisfying," he said. "Did we do our job or what?"

Still, a win for Michael would be very special for Mario.

'If Michael wins Sunday, it would probably be the happiest day of my life,' said Mario, who will watch the race from his son's pit.

Michael said he will be ready when the green flag drops, despite the distractions and the tough job of overseeing a team fielding cars for himself and three other drivers  Kanaan, Wheldon and Robby Gordon, subbing for the injured Franchitti.

"Maybe I'll be more focused than ever," he said. "As far as I'm concerned in my mind right now, this is not my last race. I'm just focused and not even thinking about that.

"That's a distraction, an emotion I don't need to deal with right now. I'll deal with that on Sunday, after the race."

Michael said one of the questions most asked since he said this would be his last race is whether he would feel an obligation to defend the title next May if he won.

"No, it's just the opposite," he said. "There's no better way to retire than on top."

And, either way, it might not be the end of the Andretti-Indy connection.

Michael's son, 16-year-old Marco, is already a winner in go-karts and the developmental Barber-Dodge amateur series.